An Easy Start (#1)

This past weekend we started the year with a very easy trip.  McKinney Falls State Park is about a 40 minute drive from our apartment, out near the Austin airport.  We go out there fairly often, usually staying at the walk-in "primitive" sites.  I put "primitive" in parentheses because the sites are only about a quarter mile from the car and have potable water on location.  Unfortunately, there is apparently a rule that the primitive sites can only have 4 people, and since there are 6 of us, we would have to pay an additional $10 per extra kid (choke, choke).  The primitive sites were also nearly booked, meaning that we wouldn't have much privacy either.  As a result, I ended up taking the #40 car camping spot (which allows 8 people).  This site is right next to the rest rooms yet now surrounded by too many other people.

We headed out Friday after the kids finished school.  The weather was beautiful, in the high 70's, and we ended up having a blast.  Like all of our trips the focus was food. Friday evening we cooked hotdogs over the fire and then made some awesome homemade ice-cream.  I probably went a bit heavy on the cream, but oh it tasted so good.  There were of course marshmallows too, but that goes without saying.

Saturday morning we woke up early for some quick oatmeal before heading out for a hike.  The trail at McKinney Falls is paved the whole way for bicycles, which is kinda weird, but it was still a good hike.  Overall we only hiked about 2.5 miles with lots of snack breaks.  Mom made P&J (on tortillas) for the kids,  and tuna sandwiches for the adults.  Dad made fresh guacamole (smashing the avocados in a ziplock bag) which we then ate with pretzel crisps.  Yummy!  Our hike was cut short because we had to break camp before the checkout time (we were still a little late).

Overall it was a wonderful trip and a good way to start the new year.

Our 50 for 2012

"Our 50" is a mechanism through which our family sets a yearly goal, and then utilizes the power of a countless number of prying eyes to hold us accountable.  Holding to the name, each year our goal has something to do with the number 50.  The goal must be difficult, but not impossible, to achieve.  It must also be something that can be done as a family since the ultimate goal is to become a stronger family each year.

Our 50 for 2012 is "nights camping".  We have decided that over the course of the year we will spend 50 nights camping under the stars as a family.